United People's Party (Zimbabwe)

The United People's Party (UPP) is a political party in Zimbabwe. It was formed in 2006 by the former ZANU-PF provincial chairman of Masvingo and ZANU-PF member of Central Committee, Dr Daniel Shumba. Party candidates ran for the first time in the by-elections of Chiredzi South and Zaka East in February and March 2007, respectively. In the 2008 parliamentary election, the party put forward 79 candidates for the House of Assembly and 27 for the Senate in eight of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces.

Dr Daniel Shumba (who self funded the Party), and its interim party leader, was denied a chance to run in the 2008 Zimbabwean presidential election for allegedly arriving late to the nomination court. He later won a court application, but the judgement was issued well after the rerun elections. Other political parties feared that had the UPP got funding, it would have redefined Zimbabwe's political landscape. The UPP was also denied access to the media.

Dr Shumba has since resigned from politics in October 2009, to continue his role as a business leader in Zimbabwe. "Our revolution is not just about politics, but about economic empowerment also", said Dr Shumba.The ZANU-PF government suspended the TeleAccess telecommunication licence as punishment for Dr Daniel Shumba's democratic agenda, while he was Chairman in ZANU-PF's Masvingo province. The matter is before courts.

Political parties in Zimbabwe and its antecedents
Governing parties
  • Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF)
  • Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T)
  • Movement for Democratic Change – Ncube (MDC–N)
Minor parties
  • Zimbabwe African National Union – Ndonga (ZANU–Ndonga)
  • National Alliance for Good Governance (NAGG)
  • Zimbabwe People's Democratic Party
  • Zimbabwe Youth in Alliance (ZYA)
  • International Socialist Organisation (ISO)
  • United Parties
  • United People's Party (UPP)
  • Patriotic Union of MaNdebeleland (PUMA)
  • Zimbabwe African People's Union – Federal Party (ZAPU–FP)
  • Zimbabwe Development Party (ZDP)
Defunct parties
  • Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU)
  • Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU)
  • Rhodesian Front (RF)
  • Republican Front (RF)
  • Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe (CAZ)
  • Responsible Government Association (RGA)
  • United African National Council (UANC)
  • United Federal Party (UFP)
  • Rhodesian Action Party (RAP)
  • Rhodesia Labour Party (RLP)
  • Southern Rhodesia Communist Party (SRCP)
  • Southern Rhodesia Liberal Party (SRLP)
President
  • Robert Mugabe (ZANU–PF)
Prime minister
  • Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC–T)
Key people
  • Ndabaningi Sithole (ZANU, ZANU–Ndonga)
  • Joshua Nkomo (ZAPU)
  • Arthur Mutambara (MDC–M)
  • Ian Smith (RF)
Armed factions
  • ZANLA (ZANU, ZANU–PF)
  • ZIPRA (ZAPU)
  • FROLIZI
  • Portal:Politics
  • List of political parties
  • Politics of Zimbabwe


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